Bazaar last stand
Its been a long couple of weeks for Lidia Michalik and dozens of other vendors at Market Pod Cokołem, opposite Hala Mirowska in Gmina Centrum.
Since Oct. 1 theyve been working around the clock. By day the vendors sell their assorted produce of clothing and everyday knickknacks, but by night they stand watch over their colony of stalls they fear the city will remove under the cover of darkness.
This is where I sleep, said Michalik as she opened the rear door of her four-square-meter tobacco booth. Inside shes cleared a spot on the floor the size of a sleeping bag. Among the cigarette cartons and pipe tobacco that line the shelves of her kiosk are a bedroll, pillows, a thermos of coffee and several flashlights all the tools of an urban standoff.
Were not moving, said Michalik, who serves as president of the markets employer association. We have a legal right to be here. Its written in the law that there is a bazaar on this property.
Not according to the Sródmiecie district of Gmina Centrum, under whose jurisdiction the market falls.
They have no right to be there, said Ewa Węgłowska, director of public grounds management for the district. According to her, the district reserves the right to cancel its contract with the market at any time. And thats just what the district did when it sent letters to the vendors on June 30 warning them they had three months to relocate their stalls.
The market is on public property and interferes with our urban development plans, Węgłowska said. In addition, she said that several people who say they are legal heirs to the property have recently come forward to claim it.
But thats not reason enough for Michalik and other vendors, who in the early 1990s began setting up kiosks on the plot of land that once hosted a communist statue. And as the standoff intensifies, they erected banners along the market protesting the districts decision.
We pay license fees to be here, and we pay taxes, Michalik said. They just dont want us to be here cause they claim our market is ugly and dirty, but thats not true. We just want work. Unemployment is high, and for many of us without higher education, its difficult to find other work in Warsaw.
But according to Węgłowska, the district wants only to move the market, not close it. Weve offered the vendors new space in several different locations, she said. But all our proposals have been rebuffed by the vendors and Michalik. Węgłowska said she believes Michalik is strong-arming other vendors into joining the protest. Ive had several vendors come to me who say they have no problem moving, but fear retribution from Michalik and other vendors if they dont join the protest.
Michalik, on the other hand, said that support for the market protest is widespread, with only one vendor out of 48 not joining the standoff. Moreover, she said that everyone is committed to keep up the fight until a solution is found, even though since the Oct. 1 deadline the nights have grown colder and the city has cut off electricity to the market grounds.
Sometimes at night our customers pass through the market while walking their dogs or taking a stroll, Michalik said. When they see us sitting around cooking on our gas stoves and trying to stay warm, they tell us to keep up our efforts. They support us.
